FOR the second straight year, the Golden State Warriors are crowned as the NBA champions – this time after a four-game romp against their archrival Cleveland Cavaliers in the best-of-seven finals series.
But this year’s championship the hardest the Dubs won in the last four seasons, with all the ups and downs the team went through during the regular season and in the playoffs.
In some parts of the regular season, the Warriors had to endure injuries on the “Big Three” Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson, relegating them to second seed to Houston Rockets in the NBA playoffs.
In the Western Conference Finals, the Warriors also nearly ended their three straight NBA Finals appearances after being down 2-3 to Rockets but managed to snatch the next two games to barge back into the Finals.
With other teams in the West – and also in the East – trying to strengthen their lineup further in hopes of unseating the Warriors, the back-to-back NBA champions have a lot of work to do in the offseason to keep their championship core.
Heading into the 2018-2019 season, the Warriors will be keeping Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, and Shaun Livingston.
Also with the Warriors next season are Patrick McCaw, Damian Jones, Quinn Cook, and rookies Jordan Bell and Chris Boucher. Their free agents are Nick Young, Zaza Pachulia, David West, JaVale McGee, and Kevon Looney.
Durant and Thompson can become free agents this offseason if they pick up their options but are still likely to sign with the Warriors. Looney, Young, Pachulia, and McGee are also likely to be re-signed.
It is interesting to see how the Warriors’ management will handle the situation and if they will maintain their formidable lineup next season for their bid for a third-straight NBA title.
‘HINDI TIU-MAMBA’
Chris Tiu’s resurgence for Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup cannot be attributed to “tsamba” as he has been doing this all conference long.
Painters head coach Carlos Garcia said the revival of the former Gilas Pilipinas guard’s career can be attributed to his hard work in practices despite his numerous off-court commitments.
“I think sa seven games namin, four of it were all Chris Tiu. We can see the guy has heart, immaculate nga ang dating niya kung kailan kailangan saka makaka-shoot, so he’s really been playing well,” said Garcia.
“He’s been working hard,” Garcia said of Tiu, who averaged 12.7 points, 6.1 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in eight games. “Basically he’s become a very good leader for the team.”
Tiu came up huge again in Painters’ come-from-behind 104-94 win over Blackwater Elite on Friday night as he drained four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to complete their gallant comeback from a double-digit deficit.
“I don’t have to bring down the ball as much. It saves me a lot of energy as well. And somebody’s got to do it. Minsan kailangan tapang lang e,” Tiu said. “I don’t want to claim na I’m immaculate. I made a lot of mistakes also.”
“Is it my best? Maybe. It’s the conference where I have played the most minutes, that’s for sure. So, for any player, I guess, it spells the difference. It gives the player a lot of confidence if you know your coach has full trust in you,” he added./PN
